The Road Home
by Quirkette
Summary: A homesick princess and her Dornish guard set off on a new dawn to visit their home. A very short one-shot to explore the craving home gives a Dornish Princess and how only a fellow Dornish knight can understand it. Princess Elia/Arthur Dayne/Rhaegar Targaryen. Read, enjoy and please review as it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks


**Hi everyone, I'm posting another Arthur and Elia fic I had written a while ago. This isn't really a sequel or prequel to the other fic I have written Reasons for Unraveling, it's a stand-alone one shot but I thought I'd still post it up anyway. All characters, recognizable places, and names are the property of G.R.R. Martin and his universe. Thank you for previous reviews. I hope you enjoy this one and I would really appreciate reviews thanks.**

 _ **The Road Home**_

Kohled brown eyes peered out from under the loose scarf that had been wrapped around her head to save her from the harsher glare of the sun once they would start travelling into the day. It also kept her face well hidden.

Knowing her love for the climate, he knew she would rip it off to welcome the sun's kiss instead of seeking protection from it though. And although she wore the loose tan trousers and simple linen tunic of the desert herders, he could plainly see the Princess of Dorne through those mirthful brown eyes. Arthur Dayne's eyes were trained to spot out Princess Elia's amused eye quirks against the rest.

"Well, does this suffice? I want to get going already…" Every moment passing seemed to be a waste to her since Rhaegar had agreed on this visit.

Rhaegar leaned forward and caught a lock of her dark curly hair waving out of the scarf around her head and face.

He tucked her hair back in and said, "Be careful, you'll barely pass for a Dornish herder if your hair is billowing in the open…But yes, I think this covers you well overall. You don't look too discernable."

She smiled at him with her eyes and he returned it with a small one of his own. For the first time in a long time, she was feeling excited and overcome with giddiness at the prospect of seeing Sunspear again. If he could see how happy he'd made her with this small gesture of fondness…

It was fleeting but Arthur noted the slight drop in her eyes when she realized the prince had retreated back into his faraway thoughts. Rhaegar could smile and say the words, but his soul these days seem to withdraw somewhere no one else was permitted. Not even his sweet wife. Although Rhaegar had finally relented and allowed Elia to visit Sunspear, Arthur knew there was another reason he was suddenly so attentive to his wife's homesick requests.

"We should make our way now Princess, before we lose the night's cover." Arthur stepped in to remind them.

Rhaegar nodded and bid his wife farewell. "Take care of her Arthur, and yourself. Send a raven as soon as you have been received by the Martells."

Arthur nodded and helped Elia onto her horse before he mounted his own. "Take care my Grace."

Elia also looked at her husband fondly and said, "Thank you my dear."

Finally Rhaegar seemed to see her and gave her a last warm smile. They started off, Elia glancing back a couple of times before seeing Rhaegar turn back on his own path. She then focused on her road ahead.

After a few minutes of travelling in the dark night on the open path, Arthur could not help himself.

He stopped them both and cleared his throat, "If I may Princess…"

Elia rolled her eyes, "Don't start formalities now Arthur…what is it?"

He leaned forward closer to her and then using his finger, gently rubbed at her eyelids until the kohl smudged into dark circles around her eyes. She stayed impeccably still, holding her breath slightly, a little surprised at his action.

When he finished, he leaned back and offered a smile reminiscent of their younger days playing chase in the Water Palace when he would tug her braided hair to tease her.

"Your eyes were still a little too noticeable on a herder…for a fellow Dornishman," he grinned.

Elia pulled the fabric away from her mouth and smiled widely at him, for once looking like the Princess of Dorne instead of Rhaegar's timid wife.

"Well then thank you, from one Dornishman to another. And now on we ride to the sun…" She gave him her cheekiest smile and pulled up the fabric again.

With a quite unladylike whoop she set off galloping on her horse before he grinned and set off after her.

 **So that was it. A very short one-shot to just highlight the feelings I think Elia might have had during her time in Westeros. I think Rhaegar, Elia and Arthur have the potential to be a very complicated triangle and hope to write more on it.**

 **Hope you liked it. Thanks for reading.**

 **Quirkette**


End file.
